I think anything airbrushed tends to look a lot more "illustrated". I'm not a fantastic artist, but I started airbrushing scale models (planes mostly) over 20 years ago, so I can put down a nice coat or two if I put my mind to it. It's not really practical for human-sized figures, but it rocks for vehicles...
I can see your point about the dropshadow, it makes the whole thing look like it was blacklined. Look in the thread on airbrush paint, there's a picture of it sitting amidst some paint bottles that's the most "real" I guess.
loyd